NewsNews5 October 2026

55 Years in Motion. The Molodist Film Festival Presented a New Visual Identity and Announced the Dates of This Year’s Festival

The 55th Molodist International Film Festival will take place in Kyiv from October 24 to November 1. For its anniversary edition, the festival has presented a new visual identity created by the design agency McCann Kyiv in collaboration with Mykola Kovalenko, a world-renowned designer who has received more than 150 awards at leading competitions.

The new visual identity is based on the number 55, composed of simple geometric shapes, including circles, semicircles, and triangles. They refer to the language of cinema, the light of a film projector, and film stock. The identity has no fixed form. Its elements can change scale, position, and combinations, creating new compositions for posters, banners, merchandise, and other media.

"55 years of Molodist means 55 years of moving cinema forward. Therefore, we wanted to create an identity that does not simply mark an anniversary but is itself in motion: changing, combining, and revealing itself anew each time. This collaboration gave us the opportunity to look at Molodist with a truly fresh perspective," comment the creative agency McCann Kyiv.

Molodist was founded in 1970 by directors Vadym Chubasov and Viktor Ivchenko as a student film festival. The first festival lasted two days, and its program consisted of 33 short films by students of the Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv Institute of Theatre Arts. Over 55 years, the festival has grown into an international film forum focused on young professional cinema and the discovery of new names in Ukrainian and international cinematography. The competition program features debut feature-length and short fiction, documentary, and animated films by authors from around the world.

Molodist’s international competition program includes student, short film, and feature film competitions. Several years ago, a documentary competition was also introduced. The non-competition program brings together the sections “Festival of Festivals,” FORMA, “A Century of Greats,” “Midnight Screening,” and others, where audiences can see both the most talked-about premieres from Berlinale, Venice, and Cannes, as well as the boldest experimental films.

Molodist is the only film festival in Ukraine accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) and one of the largest film festivals in Eastern Europe. The festival pays special attention to Ukrainian cinema and films shot in Ukraine. In 1979, the Molodist Grand Prix was awarded to Ivan Mykolaichuk’s Babylon XX. Among the films presented at the festival was Alain Berliner’s debut My Life in Pink, which was later nominated for an Oscar. Among the legendary directors who made their debut at Molodist are Danny Boyle, François Ozon, Stephen Daldry, and Adina Pintilie.

Winners of Molodist’s competition programs receive the “Scythian Deer” statuette — the festival’s main award, which has become its recognizable symbol.

The main media partner will traditionally be 1+1 media. For many years, 1+1 media, the 1+1 Ukraine TV channel, and the partner platform Kyivstar TV have supported the Molodist Film Festival, and this cooperation has already lasted for more than one decade. Traditionally, presenters of the 1+1 Ukraine channel take part in the opening and closing ceremonies, and the latest festival news can be found on 1+1 media platforms.

Passes and Tickets

The sale of festival passes starts in advance. The festival pass provides access to film screenings at the Zhovten Cinema and the House of Cinema. Until and including October 11, its price is UAH 1,100, and from October 12 to October 25 — UAH 1,500.

A discounted pass is available for students. It also provides access to screenings at the Zhovten Cinema and the House of Cinema. Until and including October 11, the pass costs UAH 550, and from October 12 to October 25 — UAH 700. To purchase it, students must confirm their status with a student ID card.

For defenders, the festival pass is free of charge. To obtain it, status must be confirmed with a military registration document. Service members may visit the festival accreditation desk at the Zhovten Cinema after the start of the film festival and receive their pass. It provides access to screenings at the Zhovten Cinema and the House of Cinema.

Individual tickets for screenings will cost:

UAH 95 for morning screenings at 10:00,

UAH 160 for daytime screenings at 13:00 and 16:00,

UAH 200 for evening screenings at 19:00.

The festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the State Film Agency of Ukraine, and the State Agency of Ukraine for Arts and Arts Education.

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